The disclosure relates generally to an insertion-based, casing and drawer display system that may function as a greeting card. In one particular aspect, an initially hidden insert may also be included to carry and present a supplemental card, separate from the body of the card.
Existing greeting cards generally serve their communication purposes by delivering a message, whether textual or graphical, in a non-continuous manner. In one time-honored design, the card consists of a cover and an interior and the card is opened along a common fold between them. The opening of this card provides two distinct visual planes that are experienced separately, i.e. they cannot be experienced within the same visual plane. In another historical design, the card consists of a multi-fold construction such that it opens in an accordion-like fashion. In this design, the opening of the card attempts to present the cover and interior in the same visual plane by revealing one or more interstitial images joining the cover and interior images. However, the visual experience of opening this card is not smooth since the eye is distracted by its unfolding in three-dimensional space.
Within the card industry, countless other variations in the construction and function of cards have been provided to accommodate card image transformations, including pop-up cars and window flaps. In addition, cards with sliding portions have been devised, such as that in U.S. Pat. No. 1,898,308 to Miller. In Miller's design a separate moveable card portion containing a first image is superimposed on the surface of the card having a second image and affixed thereto with a slot-and-tab arrangement. A pulling tab attached to the moveable card portion is pulled to simulate the movement of the first image against the second image as the moveable card portion slides across the card front as guided by the tab in the slot. In another design, provided in U.S. Pat. No. 1,699,383 to Taylor, a similar tab-and-slot arrangement is provided. In Taylor's design, a first image in a first card portion is replaced with a second image in a second card portion as guided by the tab-and-slot upon pulling a tab. In yet another design, provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,707,757 to Crowell, a cascading image is accomplished with a series of card portions. Each of the series of card sections are connected, in a hook-and-ladder fashion, to the previous card section such that pulling the first card section results in the second section being pulled out and its image revealed, which in turn pulls out and reveals the third card section and image, etc. Again, as with previous designs, a tab-and-slot mechanism is used to guide the card extension.
None of these previous designs, however, present a card image transformation in which an integrated final image is continuously presented in a singular, visual perception plane so as to provide a visually smooth experience. Further, none of the heretofore known card designs possess an independently removable, separately secured content, hidden within the card and revealed upon the opening thereof.